Tag Archives: Science Cheerleaders

You can find them on a football field and in the lab. Science Cheerleaders is an organization of cheerleaders with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and math, who are looking to challenge typical stereotypes as well as inspire young children to get interested in science through an unexpected avenue — cheerleading.

The Accelerator had a conversation with science cheerleader Wendy Brown, a biomedical engineering Ph.D. student at the University of California, Davis, who also cheers for the Oakland Raiders. While earning a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Brown cheered for the Atlanta Falcons and performed with Georgia Tech’s Goldrush dance team, drawing on her background in ice skating as a young child and dancing in high school. In California, she has also cheered for the Sacramento Kings and Mountain Lions. Brown is also the co-creator of Project MERCCURI, which engages non-scientists and scientists alike in a project collect microbe samples to send to the International Space Station, where astronauts can observe how such organisms behave in a microgravity environment.

Trajan’s Column, completed in 113CE, is a masterpiece of Roman art and engineering. It has stood for more than 1900 years intact as the rest of the Roman Forum crumbled around it. The tower comprises 29 blocks of solid marble each weighing from 29-77 tons. Each marble drum had windows and a staircase allowing access to the top pulled into place by an elaborate pulley system. Watch this stop-motion video by National Geographic on how it was made in ancient times. For even more insight, watch the artists’ making-of video.

Last week, NASA released two videos of taking a GoPro on walkabouts (or, extravehicular activities—EVAs for short) in space. Ever wondered what it’s like to cling to the side of the International Space Station as it zips around Earth in orbit at 8km per second? The views are out of this world! (Sorry.) See the longer NASA-released videos from EVA number 30 and EVA number 31 and even further extended footage.

Easter was a few weeks ago, which means that stores are selling leftover candy at deeply discounted prices. You might just have a few stale Peeps left at the bottom of your basket, even after a few healthy rounds of Peep jousting. If so, why not try an experiment? This video shows a fun and tasty way to calculate the elusive Speed of Light equation using marshmallow Peeps and a microwave.